Impact of Guest Wellness on Hospitality Design
TRAVELING FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Focusing on physical and mental wellness is becoming increasingly important for travelers as they weave work and personal life together. With daily work and personal pressures, information overload, and pandemic repercussions so prevalent, support for wellness is increasingly vital to travelers. Professionals are prescribing wellness antidotes more than ever before in answer to the ever-growing stressors on society as economy, violence, and health issues rise. It is important that travelers find the respite and relaxation necessary to safeguard their health and well-being amongst these internal and external challenges.
ELEVEN02 HOTEL ROCHESTER
Eleven02 Even Hotel is an example of bringing wellness to the traveler and encouraging healthy habits. This hotel includes amenities such as quick-connect workout videos on the TV, an exercise band unit, and yoga equipment inside the guestrooms. Guests receive extra care with circadian alarm clocks and premium mattresses. The hotel restaurant supports good habits by providing healthy options, and an outdoor pool and spa draw guests outside to connect with nature. Our design incorporates a variety of seating options thoughtfully located to provide moments for guests to focus, uplift, and energize, or pause, rest, and relax. The design for Eleven02 enables guests to continue their healthy routines while traveling.
INTENTIONALLY WEAVING WELLNESS INTO DESIGN
Hospitality design can significantly influence the experience travelers have as they are away from home. Providing a comfortable environment that removes unnecessary distractions and supports innate use can help streamline a guest’s visit. An environment that offers creative inspiration and distracts guests from the negative aspects of routine can be invaluable and entice them to return or seek out that brand for any destination. This experience also drives travelers to spread the word through social media platforms, providing increased marketing and advertising and elevating brand awareness.
One fundamental way a property encourages wellness is with guest personalization. Ergonomic furniture and features, intuitive functioning, and advanced technology anticipate guests’ needs and lighten the burden of being in a new and unfamiliar environment. Guestrooms should be a sanctuary for travelers to re-set upon arrival. Functions should be intuitive and respond seamlessly to guests’ needs. Successful guestrooms also enhance travelers’ experiences by engaging all the senses with elements like well-managed acoustics, a hotel’s subtle signature scent, and special attention to the tactile quality of the upholstery. Design of guestrooms that provide guest personalization incorporating research results from anthropology, psychology, and sociology is the future of hospitality design.
HOTEL JACKSON
Tucked away in the shadow of the Teton Mountain range, Hotel Jackson provides guests with a unique, curated experience to travel luxuriously as they bask in the natural world. Bringing rustic together with modern sleek, Hotel Jackson boasts a culturally authentic restaurant using the owner-family’s traditional Lebanese-Mediterranean recipes. In quaint indulgence, guests reside just a block from Jackson Hole Town Square. The hotel houses a large sanctuary-like library where guests can leave technology behind and curl up with a book for hours if they’d like. Guests are encouraged to unwind and relax as every guest room includes an indoor or outdoor natural gas fireplace on a private veranda.
TALKING STICK RESORT
Talking Stick Resort is a delightful destination for guests who want to relax and recharge. At the top floors of the 496-key tower, guests will find a full-service spa and two elegant open-plan restaurants that provide access to natural light and 360-degree views. Outdoor pools and surrounding golf course entice guests to enjoy the exceptional sunshine and pleasant weather most common in the beautiful desert city. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, Talking Stick Resort is near a rich offering of hiking and biking opportunities, historically significant architecture, cultural restaurants, and lush desert botanical gardens.
MONTEREY BAY
At the Marriott Dual-brand hotel in Sand City, located adjacent to Monterey Bay, we took particular care to include elements supporting health and wellness. Guestrooms have enhanced acoustical separation and public space consideration for better sound control between neighboring rooms. That and upgraded mattresses in every room afford a higher quality sleep experience. Biophilia, a concept used to connect guests with the natural environment by direct and indirect exposure to nature, was actively included in the hotel design to refresh and recharge travelers. A spacious, two-story bar and dining space with floor-to-ceiling windows faces the courtyard. To encourage good habits, the property boasts an enlarged fitness room with specialty equipment like cross-training equipment and specialty hooks and loops for resistance band training. A Peloton is also provided to help guests continue their training while on the road. A focus on enlivening guests with the outdoor deck, pool, and spa area delivers an enhanced, energizing experience for guests at this hotel.
Karen joined FFKR in 2016. As a Senior Associate Interior Designer, Karen is an integral team member of our Hospitality Studio. Having worked on Hotel Jackson Phase 2 and the Talking Stick Resort High Limit Addition, Karen enjoys the complicated and inspiring process of project design. She appreciates the challenge of merging the talents and expertise of a design team with a client’s goals and intent to collaboratively complete amazing projects.
Interested in learning more? Email hospitalitystudio@ffkr.com